The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra waltzed into its 2005-2006 season Saturday night at the Michigan Theater with nary a misstep. The program, called "Let's Dance," consisted of Weber's "Invitation to the Dance," Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos, Ravel's "La Valse" and Richard Strauss' "Der Rosenkavalier Suite."
Throughout, the ensemble sounded marvelous, offering even more proof - if any past last year's triumphant Mahler in Hill Auditorium is needed - that it continues to build on the advances it has made during the past few seasons.
A highlight of the evening was surely the Mozart Concerto (this season marks the composer's 250th birthday), which featured Ann Arbor fortepianist Penelope Crawford and Oberlin fortepianist David Breitman as soloists. The two complemented each other perfectly; however, it was sometimes - especially in the first part of the work - nearly impossible to hear the fortepianos over the rest of the ensemble, which was scaled back in size in an effort to avoid overwhelming the instruments.
Sans orchestral accompaniment, however, the delicate music produced was lovely. It was a wonderful opportunity to hear the piece played on the actual instruments for which Mozart wrote it, in this case instruments that came from each player's own collection. It's hard to keep one fortepiano in tune for long, let alone two, but nary a problem was heard in that department.
The Weber was also superb, with the polite cello asking the shy clarinet to dance, the clarinet responding in the affirmative, the two waltzing off together, and then the cello offering its sincere "thank you" as the piece closed.
Ravel's "La Valse," which doesn't even sound like much like a waltz at first but makes up for that quickly, was energetic and exhilarating, but not as much as the Strauss which ended the show. At one point, it seemed as if Maestro Arie Lipsky was about to dance himself right off of the podium as the music crested around him. It was a visual as well as an aural experience. There's a lot going on in this challenging work, but the A2SO pulled it off splendidly.
The evening opened, as has become traditional for the first concert of the season, with a rousing rendition of our national anthem, with a remarkable number of audience members singing along. Then, as homage to the victims and families affected by Hurricane Katrina, the ensemble performed the ninth of Elgar's "Enigma Variations" ("Nimrod"), which was beautifully played, poignant yet ultimately triumphant and the perfect piece for such a tribute.
Although it was previously announced that two displaced members of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra would join the group for the Saturday night show, logistics dictated a postponement, perhaps until October.
The evening was dedicated to longtime violinist and A2SO supporter Brian Etter, who passed away in August.
As the announcement of the salute was made, a shout of "bravo!" rang through the hall, a sentiment which marked not only Etter's contributions to the A2SO but seemed to serve as early praise for the music that was to follow.
|
|
|---|
©2002-2008
Ann Arbor Symphony
220 E Huron St., Suite 470
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
(734) 994-4801
